Question asked by Phylis
I was hospitalised in August due to an autoimmune disorder that kept me in Critical Care Unit for 9 days and a total of almost 3 weeks in the hospital. I was in and out of consciousness during the first week. So, a friend asked an oracle (or medium of Guan Yin) to visit me at the hospital. She asked my family to play Medicine Buddha mantra to me everyday.
After I was discharged and back home, she visited me again. She saw a Shakyamuni Buddha statue in my house, which my Mom bought it from Cambodia. She had no intention to worshiping or praying to the Buddha. The medium advised us to pray to the Buddha everyday. Since then, I have started to have interest in Buddhism.
I am a Taoist and my family worship a Chinese deity at home. We worship our ancestors as well.
1. What are differences between Buddhism and Taoism? Some of the deities worshiped by Taoist are also in Buddhism (e.g. Guan Yin).
2. Is it okay if I pray to Buddha and at the same time being a Taoist?
3. How should I recite Shakyamuni Buddha Mantra? I've came across different pronunciation:
– Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Shakyamuni Ye Svaha
– Om Muni Muni Maha Muni Ye Svaha
– Om Mune Mune Maha Munaye Svaha
4. Every morning and before I go to sleep, I'd recite one mala of Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha and Shakyamuni Buddha Mantra. Is it sufficient?
5. As I have not memorise the text yet, is it okay to look at the text instead of the Buddha while reciting?
Thank you.
Dear Phylis,
I’m very sorry to hear that you are suffering from this autoimmune disorder. Dealing with medical illness can be very difficult, but you should take this time to reflect on the fact that all beings go through some form of suffering as you are. In doing this you can develop great compassion, which we all need on our spiritual journey towards enlightenment. Please see below for answers to your questions.
1. The one main difference between Buddhist and Taoist practice is that Buddhists only seek refuge or pray to the enlightened beings. Enlightened beings have achieved enlightenment and are completely out of samsaric existence. They have completely transcended all forms of suffering, are no longer bound by karma or their afflictive emotions and have reached a stage of omniscience. From a Buddhist viewpoint the Taoist deities, although very powerful beings who can definitely be of help to others, are not enlightened beings. Instead they are thought of as beings within the god realms.
2. From a strict Buddhist point of view, practitioners do not take refuge in beings who are not enlightened, this is because they are still within samsara and have not achieved the goals that Buddhist seek. These goals are to attain high states of spiritual attainments and ultimately become enlightened themselves.
Even though this is the case, all enlightened beings are extremely compassionate. As such, anyone who prays to them, whether Buddhist or not, will benefit from their enlightened energies. Therefore even if you are Taoist, it is perfectly fine to pray to Buddha Shakyamuni, as he will always help you.
3. As was taught by His Eminence 25th Tsem Rinpoche, the pronunciation of Shakyamuni’s mantra is: TAYATHA OM MUNI MUNI MAHA MUNI SHAKYAMUNI YE SOHA. This is the Tibetan Buddhist pronunciation of the mantra.
4. Any prayers and mantras you recite to Buddha Shakyamuni is beneficial. What you are doing now is very good already. What would help you to generate more merit, is making offerings to Buddha Shakyamuni every day. His Eminence usually advises people to set up a shrine dedicated to a Buddha with extensive offerings made daily. However this may not be possible for everyone.
You can start off slowly by offering incense or light (candles or electric lights), then you can expand to offer bowls of water or even food/fruit on your alter since you have a statue of Buddha Shakyamuni. If there are days where you have the time, you can also engage in reciting more mantras. The energies of the mantra are very beneficial life, therefore the more you recite, the more of Buddha Shakyamuni’s energy is around you to help you.
5. Yes there is nothing wrong with not looking at the Buddha when reciting. Since you cannot memorise the prayer yet, it is perfectly fine to read the prayer. However before you begin, you should think strongly that Buddha Shakyamuni is in front of you and during your prayers, you should think strongly that Buddha Shakyamuni receives your prayers, is extremely happy and sends you blessings.
In fact when you are reciting the prayers, it is not necessary to look at the statue. You should instead try to visualise Buddha Shakyamuni in front of you. If you cannot do this then it is fine to look at the statue as a focus of your prayers. I hope this helps.
Thank you.